Lathing



May 8, 1945- n A. c. KARELIUS 2,375,302

LTHING Filed May 15, 1944 2 sheets-Sheet 1 F" 41mu w n 11j-.r n if; /2 l5w w iii! A j?, l /7 (U f n /O/ *l .l J 4. L f l.

r 1l n ATTORNEY May 8, 1945. l A.A c. KARELlus 2,375,302

LATH'ING I V Filed May l5, 1944 -2 Sheets-Sheet 2 n H TTORNEY- PatentedMay 8, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LATHING r Albert o. Karelius,smsen-a, Calif. Application May 15, 1944, Serial No. 535,615

8 Claims.

This invention relates to lathing of the general character embodied inmy co-pending applications Serial Nos. 488,151 and 493,644, filed on May24, 1943, and July 6, 1943, respectively.

In their broad aspects, the above identified applications discloselathing composed of a backing member or other suitable`fiexible'material having plaster keying openings therethrough, Landassociated with a welded metal fabric formed by intersecting first andsecond Wires on the plasterreceiving side of the member, and a third setof wires on the other side of the member welded through the aforesaidopenings to certain of the wires of the metal fabric, to provide wirereinforcing means which becomes embedded in plaster when applied to thelathing.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a lathing ofthe above described general character whose structure is simplified bythe elimination of certain elements and the utilization of the remainingelements in a manner to satisfactorily perform the functions of thegreater number of elements, all to the end'of greatly reducing themanufacturing costs while maintaining the structural strength requiredfor class A work as identified by building codes, and enabling acontinuous wire mesh reinforced all-purpose lathing to be installed notonly in thehigher priced structures, but also in low cost buildingswherein non-reinforced lathing such as plaster board and wood lath wouldotherwisebeused,

More specifically, it is another object of the present invention toprovide a simplified construction of lathing composed of a minimumnumber of -elements consistent with 'the necessary functions to beperformed, and including abackwhich the first and second intersectingwires forming the entire reinforcement and being com pletely' embeddedin plaster, render theV latter equally strong in two directions. Inaddition, the

relatively narrow webs of backing sheet material remaining between theconfronting ends of the elongated openings or slots in the ybackingsheet,

permit the portions .of 'plaster which are forced through the openingsto flow together and form continuous keys 'or ribs, thus increasing therigidity of the finished product. Also, the novel'arrangement of thetwo-wire type of reinforcement with respect to the backing sheet enablesthe lathing to be secured to .building studs by'nailing around oneseries 0f wires while the other series of wires remains free on theplaster-receiving face of the backing sheet for maximum em-` bedding ofthe plaster to produce a continuous reinforcement. A still furtherobject of this invention is to provide a wire mesh-reinforced lathing inwhich the webs of material between the ends of the openings inthebacking sheet are pre-grooved to receive the back wires of the ymeshrein forcement, in a manner to space the sheet away from the front wiresand provide an excess of backing sheet ma-v terial, all to the end ofenabling the wires' to'be more deeply and uniformly embedded in theplaster, as well as confining the backing sheet against displacementlaterally of the back wires' in order that the latter will be maintainedby the grooves,

properly centered in the openings along the ing member of flexible sheetmaterial such as strong, tough paper, and metallic reinforcementcomposed entirely of first wires on one side of the backing member, andsecond wires on the other side of the backing member in intersecting ormeshed relationship to the rst wires, with the first and second wiresbeing welded together at their intersections, through openings in thebacking member which are of such contour and relationship to each otherand to the wires asto ex tion which yields sufficiently to trowelingpressure to insure embedding of the rst and second wires in plasterwithout wasting plaster by areas of excessive plaster thickness.

A further object of the' invention is toprovide a 1athing of the abovedescribed character in lengths thereof prior to the application andsetting of the mortar.

With'these and other objects in View, the invention resides in thecombinations, arrangements and functional relationships of elements asset forth in the following specification and particularly pointed out inthe appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a view in front elevation, of the form of lathing embodyingthe present invention and applied to members of a building frame;

Figure 2 is a View vin rear elevation, of the lathing installed as inFigure 1;

Figure 3 is a. reduced scale view of the lathing in rear elevation,after the plaster has been applied to thelathing; f

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional View taken on the line4-4ofFigure 3; f

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional View taken on the line 5-5of Figure 1;A

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5, but showing the lathing after acoat of'plaster has been applied thereto;

Figure 7 is an enlarged fragmentary'sectional ing the lathing after acoat of plaster` has been applied thereto; f v

Figure 9 is a fragmentary detail sectional View of the backing sheet.

Referring specifically to the drawings, the invention in its broadaspectconsists of a backing member Band a, plaster-reinforcing metal fabric'I'he backing member B is preferably constructed from strong, toughpaper or similar flexible sheet material, and is cut into rectangularsheets Y I Iof backing sheet material therebetween which practice can beas little as three-sixteenths or one eighth of an inch. It is also to benoted that during the operation of punching the openings I through thebacking sheet, the portion of the latter definingthe narrow connectingwebs I I is subjected to a forming operation by suitable mechanism (notshown), sufficient pressure being imposed upon the'webs to form lateraloffsets org'rooves I2 therein on the rear face of the backu ing sheet,These grooves I2 are coincident to the longitudinal `center line of theopenings II, and open through the ends of the 'openings as well asthrough opposite edges of the backing sheet. By preforming the groovesI2 in the backing sheet, the relatively stiff paper stock from which thesheet is constructed, is rendered more pliable and 'yieldable bylslightly breaking down or deforming the fibrous'structure of the paperacross the webs. Furthermore, the forming of the grooves I2 pro-` videsan excess of backing sheet material for coaction with the metal fabric Fin a manner to be later described.

fIhe plaster reinforcing metal fabric F is composed entirely of tworightangularly intersecting series of wires I5 and I6 between which theback-y ing" sheet is interposed. The wires of the two se ries'form amesh corresponding to the center to center distance between the openingsI0, and are welded or otherwise permanently secured together at theirintersections in the centers of the openingsIIl as indicated at Ill,thusmaking a unitary structure in which the front wires l5 are arrangedin parallel rows and span the openings I0 transversely thereof on oneside of the sheet.'

The parallel rear wires I5 span the openings Ill longitudinally of thelatter, with these wires extending along the grooves I2 and seatingtherein as shown in Figure 5, so that the front face of the backingsheet willbe originally spacedfrom the wires I5 as clearly shown in thisngure. The grooves I2 also co-act with the wires I6 to prevent thebacking jsheet and fabric from shifting relatively in a directiontransversely of the lengths of the openings I0, and thus maintain thewires I6 centered in the openings.

The completed lathing asabove described is preferably secured every sixinches or less to building frame members M by the nail on or tie onmethod, around only the wires I6 so as to leave the front wires I5entirely free of the lathing securingv means I 8 shown in Figure 1.

Assuming that a number of sheets of the lathing are to form a wallfoundation', and that the sheets are secured to the frame members M withthe edges of successive sheets overlapped as shown in Figure 1, and withthe lengths of the openings ID and hence the wires I5 extendinghorizontally, mortar is troweled against the front face of the backingsheet by a first upward stroke and then generally horizontal back andforth spreading strokes to level out the outer surface of the mortar.

Due to the effect of the grooves I2 of the webs I I in providing anexcess of backing sheet material between points of nailing to thesupports M, the backing sheet is readily forced further away from thevertical' wires I5 under the normal troweling pressure of mortar againstthe sheet. In practice, the backing sheet is forced about one eighth ofan inch back from the wires .I5 so as to be disposed beyond the rearwires I6 as shown in Figure 8, to thus vembed the wires I5 throughouttheir entire lengths approximately one eighth of an inch in the mortaras shown in this figure. Furthermore, the extremely long openings I0facilitate the rearward displacement of the backing sheet by trowelingpressure, as the sheet is held against such displacement only by thenarrow webs IIbearing against the wires I6, to thus embed the wires I5substantially uniformly in mortar, with the result of producing auniformly, strong bond between the wires and plaster.

Mortar is also forced under the troweling pressure and strokes throughthe `openings I0 in sufficient quantity to not only provide plasterkeys, but to also bridge the narrow webs II of backing sheet materialremaining between the ends of successive openings I0, yto thus alsoembed the wires I6l throughout their entire lengths in mortar, andthereby create continuous reinforced plaster ribs or keys 2U from onebuilding frame member M to the next one as shown in Figure 3.

By` completely embedding the entire two-wire mesh fabric in plaster, thelatter is uniformly reinforced in both horizontal and vertical directions, and is further strengthened and rendered more rigid by thecontinuous ribs 20. It is preferable in practice to use a larger sizefor the horizontal wire I6 than for the vertical wire I5, such asNo. 13or'14 gage for the former, and No. 15 gage for the latter, to furtherstiften the structure against sagging between vertical supports.

It will be noted that the long side edges ofthe openings I0 act, toslice mortar from the trowel during the firstupward stroke thereof soasto facilitate the application of the mortar. The wires I5 and I6 areentirely free of kinks, and remain straight irrespective of the presenceof the webs II whose grooves I2 offset the backing sheet from the wiresI6, all to the end that the wires will have maximum strength againstelongation, with the result of providing the desirable flat foundationfor the plaster.

From the foregoing description it will be manifest that the lathing iscomposed of the minimum number of elements, (l) the backing member B,and (2) the two-wire meshr fabric F between whose longitudinal andtransverse wires I5 and I6 the backing sheet is interposed, and that thebacking sheet is structurally characterized by the specificallyconstructed and function-ally related openings I0 and intervening websII with their grooves i2 enabling the entire lengths of the two wires I5and IE to become embedded in plaster to provide substantially uniformlystrong reinforcement invtwo directions throughout the area ofthelathing.

It will also be appreciated that this simplified construction moreeiciently performs all the functions of more complicated lathingstructures, and that its manufacturing cost is materially less, due tothe fact that only a single welding operation of the wires I to thewires I6 through-the openings l of the interposed backing member tocomplete the metal fabric F and assemble the latter and backing memberis necessary as compared to two or more welding operations necessary inlathing of the same general character heretofore proposed.

I claim:

1. Lathing of the class described comprising: a backing member of exiblesheet material having elongated openings therethrough, and -arranged inparallel rows; va metal reinforcing fabric composed entirely of parallel`spaced front wires on one side of the sheet spanning said openingstransversely thereof, and parallel spaced back wires on the other sideof the'sheet spanning said openings longitudinally thereof; and meanspermanently securing the said wires together at their intersections insaid openings.

2. Lathing of the class described comprising: a backing member offlexible sheet material having elongated openings therethrough, andarranged in parallel rows; :a metal reinforcing fabric composed ofspaced parallel front wires on one side of the sheet spanning saidvopenings transversely thereof, and spaced parallel back wires on theother side of the' sheet spanning said openings longitudinally thereof;and means permanently securing said wires together at theirintersections in said openings; said openings being in end to endrelation in their rows of one direction and being sufliciently long toleave only relatively narrow webs of backing sheet material between theends of successive openings, rendering the backing sheet material freeto be forced away from the front wires throughout their lengths andrearwardly beyond the plane of the back wires,.under trowelingpressureof mortar against the backing sheet, whereby to enable the front wiresto become completely embedded in mortar throughout their lengths, andthe back wires to become embedded in mortar.

3. Lathing of the class described comprising:

a backing member of flexible sheet material havings being relativelylong and narrow, with confrontingends of the openings leaving onlynarrow webs of backing sheet material therebetween so that the backingsheet will be suiciently weakened at such webs to be forced by trowelingpressure of mortar entirely away from the wires of one series in orderto embed such wires` in mortar throughout their entire lengths; saidconfronting ends of openings being in such close proximity that mortarforced through the openings will tend to join across the webs insubstantially continuous keys in which the wires of the other se'rieswill be embedded.

6. Lathing of the class described comprising: a backing sheet offlexible material having elongated openings therethrough arranged end toend in parallel rows and leaving relatively narrow webs of backing sheetmaterial between the ends of successive openings; wires spanning theopenings` transversely thereof on one face of the backing sheet; andother wires spanning the openings longitudinally thereof on the otherface of the sheet and welded to the first said wires at theintersections of the wires in said openings; said webs having grooves inwhich the second said wires are received to space the backing sheet fromthe first said wires.

7.A Lathing of the class described comprising: a backing sheet ofkflexible material having elongated openings therethrough arranged endto end in parallel rows and leaving relatively narrow webs of backingsheet material between the ends of successive openings; wires spanningthe openings transversely thereof on one face of the backing sheet; andother wires spanning the openings longitudinally thereof on the otherface suiiicient depth to provide an excess of backing tions in saidopenings; said openings being in end to end relation in their rows ofone direction with the confronting ends of successive openings .inproximity to each other enabling mortar forced through the openings bytroweling pressure to iiow together into continuous ribs completelycovering the back wires with mortar throughout their lengths.

` 4. Lathing of the class described comprising: a metal reinforcingfabric consisting entirely of two series of wires in right angularrelation and welded together at their intersections; and a flexiblebacking sheet having openings therethrough and interposed between thetwo series of wires so that the wires of one series are on one side ofthe sheet, and the wires of the other sheetmaterial between said rows ofopenings and to confine the backing sheet against planary displacementlaterally of the secondsaid wires.

8. Lathing of the class described comprising: a backing sheet offlexible material having elonggated openings therethrough arranged endto end in parallel rows and leaving relatively narrow webs of backingsheet material between the ends of successive openings; wires 'spanningthe openings transversely thereof on one face of the backing sheet;other wires spanning the open'- ings longitudinally thereof on the otherface of the sheet and welded to the viirst said wires at theintersections of the wires in said openings; and means co-acting withthe backing sheet and second said wires to dispose the backing sheet inspaced relation to the first said wires and to provide an excess ofbacking sheet material between said rows of openings for the purposedescribed.

ALBERT C, KARELI'US.

